By Atul Prakash
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top share index edged lower on Friday, with mining and energy shares losing ground on weaker commodities prices and travel-related stocks falling after an attack in the French city of Nice that killed more than 80 people.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index (FTSE) was down for a fourth straight session and was 0.2 percent lower at 6,643.20 points by 0803 GMT after hitting an 11-month high earlier this week.
"The index has broken below rising support, which could lead to a further pullback towards 6,600. Bulls, however, will note the market’s reaction to the November 2015 Paris attacks and look for a similar treatment of last night’s tragic events in Nice," Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said.
"In that case, a bounce back up above the key 6,660 level could see momentum take the index above 6,700."
The FTSE was also subdued on the first session after the Paris attacks in November but gained 3.5 percent over the following week as the market refocused on fundamentals.
Travel and leisure companies were hit hard on Friday after a gunman at the wheel of a heavy truck ploughed into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the French city of Nice late on Thursday, killing at least 84 people and injuring scores more in what President Francois Hollande called a terrorist act.
InterContinental Hotels Group (L:IHG), easyJet (L:EZJ) and cruise company Carnival (L:CCL) were down 0.5 to 2.6 percent.
Commodities shares also lost ground. The UK energy index (FTNMX0530) slipped 0.5 percent after crude oil prices fell on renewed concerns about a global oil glut. BP (L:BP) and Royal Dutch Shell (L:RDSa) dropped by around 0.5 percent.
Miners tracked broadly weaker metals prices, with the sector index (FTNMX1770) down 1.6 percent as shares of BHP Billiton (L:BLT), Anglo American (L:AAL), Antofagasta (L:ANTO) and Rio Tinto (L:RIO) fell 1.2 to 2.5 percent.
However, financial stocks traded higher. The UK banking index (FTNMX8350) rose 1 percent, helped by a rise of 1.9 to 3.3 percent in shares of Royal Bank of England (L:RBS), Barclays (L:BARC) and Lloyds (L:LLOY).
"Banks continue to benefit from the Bank of England holding off from stimulus yesterday and potential that it favours other measures than rate cuts next month," van Dulken said.
The banking sector index is still down about 16 percent this year, but has rallied almost 13 percent since a slump after the Brexit vote on June 23.
The benchmark FTSE 100 index is up around 15 percent since then in sterling terms and headed for its fourth straight week of gains, but is up only about 10 percent in U.S. dollars terms due to a sharp decline in the British currency.
"Overall sentiment is positive, however as markets have risen substantially over the past week it needs to be seen if traders can withstand temptation to take profits towards the end of the week," said Markus Huber, trader at City of London Markets."Many traders are of the opinion that stocks, especially in Europe, have still plenty of catching up to do especially considering that markets in the U.S. are at new all-time highs."